Comic Book Review – Aquaman #4

Aquaman and Mera finish their decent into the dark trench. With little light, they find an ancient Atlantean craft broken into by the creatures they’ve encountered. They find the creatures’ breeding ground which has cocoons full of kidnapped people. Mera and Aquaman are quick to get the wall of cocoons away from the creatures which causes an attack. Aquaman breaks away and slows down the attacking creatures only to escape the queen who nearly swallows him whole. Aquaman apologizes before throwing his trident which triggers a volcanic eruption, killing the queen. As the trench begins to collapse, Aquaman successfully pushes some rock free to seal up the rest of the trench. This ensures that any of the remaining monsters are now dead. The heroes get the captured civilians back to the surface safe and sound. On their way out, a little boy tells Aquaman that he is his favorite super-hero. The following morning, Deputy Wilson visits Arthur and Mera to give them Ms. Reed’s dog.

There’s not much to this issue. It’s mostly Mera and Aquaman talking. I expected more of a final battle in the trench. I realize this story was probably setup for what’s to come. This arc did a good job establishing Aquaman as a badass hero for the DCnU as well as us readers. In my opinion this is a long time coming. He doesn’t need a hook for a hand to be considered as one of the most important characters in any version of the DCU. While there was something lacking in story, there was nothing lacking in art. Ivan Reis was a great choice to draw this series. The trench monsters were perfectly creepy and their throne room was one scary place. I mostly noticed how Reis managed to draw Aquaman as regal and badass while putting a sense of humanity on his face. I’m looking forward to the next arc!